Robaina's

Friday, 27 November 2015

During the week long festival (Nov.16-20) that centers around the Partagas Shop in Havana there has always been, on display through the week, the humidors that will go up for auction on the evening on the final event, the Gala Dinner. The humidors will be filled with a certain number of cigars that were not shown to the public during this week and that I didn't have an opportunity to photograph on the evening of the auction (I was having too good a time to remember). Over the last few years, in addition the auctioned humidors, there has also been an eclectic collection of smaller (empty) humidors on display for sale to the general public. Below are pictured most of those humidors, some of which may still be available.

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

The date says it all, it's already happened, most of us have returned back to our realities at home, wherever that may be. For most of us, that reality is far from stressless. The Partagas Encuentro may be just a memory but that memory will help us make it through the next 11 months. It almost looked like they weren't going to have any power at the store for the week of the Encuentro. If you look at the first picture, they were ripping out part of the street in front of the shop. On one of the days that I visited they had no power and didn't know if and when it was going to come back on....but then there was light.
The first day of activities begin on the Monday of the third week in November. It's more of a registration, you choose the events you want to partake in, pay, and receive your tickets and orientation if needed. This year we got a cigar with a couple of trinkets just for registering (they always give us a cigar on this day). The Santiago de Cuba Anejo Rum is always on the house and you sort of hangout for a few hours, or not, it's your choice, it's open all day and into the night. I like this day, I hang out for a few hours starting from late in the morning. There's no way I'm not going to see a bunch of friends in the VIP room that I haven't seen since around this same time last year....if I haven't already bumped into a few on the way there. Of course we can't forget the lovely staff at Partagas who go out of there way to make all of us, the Partagas Family, feel at home and welcomed. There are always huge hugs and kisses waiting for us as we enter the shop throughout the day. We're like children coming home for the holidays from wherever we spend the rest of the year....working.
Below are just a few pictures of that day and included are some from previous and subsequent visits around that time. Not all of us were able to make it this year due to family complications in some cases but our thoughts were with them and they were missed. There were also a lot of new faces and we're always happy to welcome like minded people into our fold.